A Chain of Tales: The Second Link

Dogskin

A/N – This story is a sequel! Not only is it a sequel, it is the third story in a chain of tales (hence the name) that I have been working on. You are welcome to start here, though you might have to spend a little time trying to remember who the characters are I may refer to something in the earlier stories. The first story is "The Rose of a Beast" and the second is "A Chain of Tales", both in the Beauty and the Beast section, since I used the Disney rendition of that fairy tale. If, however, you choose just to start with this, just be aware that you are in an alternate England during the 18th century where magic is commonplace and the most powerful mage in the country is a Duke named Joshua Gilld. This story is about his son.

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Summary: Jonathan Gilld has been leading the perfect life. As son to the most powerful mages in England and heir to a Dukedom, he has never wanted for anything. He doesn't have an wicked stepmother, none of his siblings are evil and plotting to usurp him and the strangest thing that ever happens in his home occurs when his parents get into a shouting match and invent new insults before kissing and making up. Trouble starts in an innocuous way when his favorite pet dog runs away and gets lost. Jonathan goes off to rescue him and finds himself in a strange adventure where the damsel is in far more distress than you could ever imagine.

Based on the Charles Perrault fairy tale "Donkeyskin" and, possibly, some elements of Robin McKinley's retelling thereof, Deerskin. I highly recommend that book!

Chapter 1

It was a bright summer day. The sun streamed into the meadows, making them shimmer like a sea of gold. The sky was so blue, it put the finest dyes to shame and the small brook bubbled merrily as it wound its way between the field and the forest close by. A gentle breeze rustled through the verdant trees, the picture of peace and solitude.

A sudden quaking of the ground disturbed the illusion of paradise and, with all the tranquility of a herd of wildebeests, two horsemen raced through the trees and out into the open meadow.

"I win!" shouted the one in front, throwing his head back and laughing triumphantly.

"It's only because you've yet to grow taller than a girl," said the other contemptuously. "If you actually qualified as any weight on that horse, I'd have won."

The first turned around and glared at his brother. "You're just a sore loser," he grumbled.

"And you're a sore winner." He cantered up to his brother and ruffled the boy's dirty blond hair. "I was only teasing you, Ant. You rode very well."

"I know," said Anthony, grinning happily. Nothing meant as much to his as his older brother's approbation, though he would have died before admitting it. "Jonathan, are you going to teach me how to swing into the saddle now?"

He was, of course, referring to a trick Jonathan had learned a few weeks ago that involved the horse galloping towards one and swinging into the saddle as the animal ran by.

"You mean the one Mother forbid me to do ever again?" he said, raising one eyebrow.

"Yes," Anthony said, the excitement of a fourteen-year-old boy at the prospect of something stupid and dangerous glowing in his eyes.

"Hmm," Jonathan said, stroking his newly shaved chin, "I don't know, I don't really like to disobey my mother."

Anthony snorted in derision. "Oh, please, Jon! When's the last time you listened to either of our parents?"

"Last Tuesday," Jonathan replied promptly, "When Father asked me to pass him the butter at dinner." They both started laughing. "Very well," Jonathan said as soon as he found his breath again, "But you have to promise never to let her know I taught you."

"How stupid do I look?"

"Was that rhetorical?" Jonathan ruffled his brother's hair again before dismounting from the horse and preparing to show off.

From deep in the forest, a pair of eyes watched them. They were the dark gray of storm clouds and seemed to have something of rain within them. They were red rimmed and bloodshot from the weeks worth of tears that had been shed. They were filled with pain and exhaustion and watched the boys with a longing that sprung from deep within the soul.

But the owner of the eyes knew that such happiness wasn't for her, that she would never share in the joys of companionship. It was not her lot, to be happy. She could have been contented, encircled by people who at least pretended to love her, surrounded by more amusements than anyone could ever dream of. It hadn't been that large a price to pay, at least not compared to the toll running away had taken on her.

"No," she whispered softly to herself. "You know you could never have stayed. You heard what they said about you." Her voice was rusty from disuse and she was almost grateful that the two boys couldn't see her in her current state. It would be too humiliating to face them.

And yet, there was this huge gaping hole inside her heart that was screaming for human companionship, begging her to go up to the two boys and plead with them just to talk to her, show her some compassion. She knew what they would do, though. She knew the look of disgust that would cross their faces and make them cringe at the sight of her. She trembled and, with as much force as she could muster, turned away as the younger boy fell flat on his back after failing to mount the horse. She got to her feet and slinked back into the forest, two tears making their way slowly down her cheeks, leaving pale trails in the dirt that covered her skin. Her footfalls were silent as they took her back into the woods from whence she came and she left nearly no signs that she had ever even been there. But there was one who sensed her presence, one who knew that the sad young woman had passed through his territory. He had smelled her there a few days earlier and he was curious what such a strange human was doing there. And so he decided to make it his job to follow her. But that could wait until after dinner.

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It was a good two hours later before Anthony finally managed to swing himself off the ground, not just grab on and immediately fall off. Of course, his victory was offset by the fact that he overshot a little and went flying off the other side of the horse instead. Jonathan tried to stifle a giggle, though it has been ridiculously funny to watch Anthony's impromptu flight.

Anthony groaned as he got slowly to his feet, rubbing his rear end.

"How are you doing?" Jonathan asked.

"Wonderfully," Anthony replied with all the sarcasm he could muster. "I haven't had this much fun in days."

"Shall we go home before you completely ruin that tunic?" Jonathan asked, grinning at his mud covered little brother.

"Your concern is overwhelming," Anthony said dryly as he mounted the horse properly and gathered the reins into his hands.

"What are older brothers for?" Jonathan asked, riding up next to Anthony. They started for home, completely unaware that this was going to be their last normal day for a very long time.

The reached the gates of their home about two hours before sunset. Anthony was rather mortified by the amused stares and giggles that followed him as he led his horse to the stablemen.

"What happened to you, m'lord?" asked one of the groomsmen.

"Jonathan happened," Anthony answered through gritted teeth.

"Excuse me," said Jonathan, trotting in after him and dismounting with an easy grace as his younger brother nearly tumbled out of the saddle, "Why is everything always blamed on me?"

"Forgive me for saying this, m'lord, but that would be because everything is always your fault." Anthony snickered, while Jonathan pretended to look affronted.

They walked up to the castle, pretty much pleased with the way the day had gone. True, they were going to have to do quite a bit of fast talking to explain the miraculous transformation of Anthony's shirt from pale blue to mud colored, but they felt equal to the task. At least, they did until they walked straight into Her Grace, Lady Elizabeth Gilld.

Lizzie took one look at her sons before shaking her head and sighing. "All right," she said, "Whose fault was it this time?"

"His," both boys said at once, pointing a finger at the other brother. Lizzie rolled her eyes.

"And how did it happen?"

For some reason, something extremely interesting seemed to have been going on somewhere around their feet and so they were quite unable to meet their mother's eyes.

"I'm not going to get an answer, am I?" They both shook their heads. "Very well. Ant, please get the stains out of the shirt before letting it get taken to be washed." At the look of outrage on his face, Lizzie just smiled complacently. "You know its easy to remove those stains with magic, why would you want some poor girl to suffer by scrubbing it in lye for hours on end?"

"I'll give you a hand," Jonathan hissed in his brother's ear.

"I'll be fine," Anthony answered just as quietly. Truth was, this was going to take forever to do and all three of them knew it. Anthony didn't want his brother's sympathy though. Every member of his family had assured him that his magic would strengthen with time, and truth be told, he wasn't exactly weak. But when your father is the most powerful magician in the country, your mother the person who single-handedly vanquished the evilest man on God's green earth and your sister and her husband were responsible for reviving the lost art of aquatic magic, being ordinary just wasn't enough. Jonathan had nothing to worry about, he was going to be just as powerful as his parents and everyone knew it. And his sister Abigail was quite competent in her own right. While he needed an hour just to get all the stains out of a damned shirt! "I'll see you at dinner," he said, storming away with a black look on his face.

Jonathan gave his mother a reproving look. "You didn't have to do that to him," he said quietly.

"True," Lizzie agreed. "You could actually taken the blame."

"But it wasn't entirely my fault he kept falling off!" Jonathan protested.

"Your brother is an excellent horseman, I'm prepared to believe this was all your fault and, even if by some miracle it wasn't, I doubt that it was entirely his fault."

"Then why are you punishing him?" Jonathan nearly shouted with exasperation.

"Because, as far as I could see, he was the one covered in mud. And you both know better than to behave like that."

"It's still not fair."

"Very well. In the name of fairness, you can go and take care of the trail of footprints from the door to his room." Jonathan stared, openmouthed.

"Mother-" he sputtered.

"You're a magician, not a common lord. Perhaps they can get away with what they want, but you have to care about the messes you leave behind. You know that, Jonathan."

"But a little bit of mud?"

"Start small and you'll never have to take care of a disaster."

She walked away and Jonathan stalked back to the entrance, muttering and gesticulating as he went. The dirt listened obligingly to his magic and lifted itself off the carpet to float behind him in what looked like a menacing mud monster that expressed Jonathan's current mood admirably.

Lizzie walked slowly to her rooms, wondering just when she had become the villain.

"You have that look on your face," said Joshua, sticking his head out of his private study. "What did they do this time?"

"Anthony ruined another shirt horseback riding and brought about a field's worth of mud in with him. And your sons are still hoping that if they don't tell me anything, they'll get away with it."

"Jon again," Joshua summarized. His wife grinned ruefully.

"Of course. He's mad at me now, by the by."

Joshua rolled his eyes. "Shocking development. What did you do this time?"

"I told Ant to go and clean the shirt." Joshua whistled softly through his teeth. "That's another problem we're going to need to face before long."

"Tell me about it," Joshua agreed worriedly. "One day, Jonathan will eventually grow up and stop getting angry at everything."

"And by that you mean marry," Lizzie joked.

"But what can we do to help Anthony?" Joshua finished, ignoring her. "He has the power."

"He's also fourteen, Joshua," Lizzie said soothingly. "I didn't learn magic until I was twenty-one."

"If I recall correctly, you used an incredibly obscure and extremely morally ambiguous technique that involved transferring a dead enchantress's memories into your mind."

"It was her idea, first of all. And-"

"Shh," Joshua said, laughing. "I know this story, I was a part of it too. But my point is that not everyone gets such strokes of luck."

"Give him time, though," Lizzie replied. "He'll surprise us all one day."

"Oh, I don't doubt that. I would just like to know how."

The Duke and Duchess grinned at one another before going to dress for dinner.

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Night was falling and the castle gates were beginning to shut. The guards were so busy looking around for any people who didn't belong, they didn't notice the waist high shape of a shaggy wolfhound slink out into the forest. His fur was silvery gray with age and while he wasn't as quick and nimble as he once had been, he the wisdom of age to make up for it. He remembered the strange smell that had been around the castle a few days earlier and now he made it his business to find out who that human was. He set off, following the faint trail into the dark forest.

T.B.C.

A/N – Not much to say yet, as I don't have any reviewers to thank, but I suppose I could blather on for a while. I promise things will get interesting very soon. A couple of things – first of all, the story of Donkeyskin is not a particularly well known fairy tale, but if you Google it, you'll find a couple of renditions. Unfortunately, they've been "cleaned up" a bit so, if you find any that use the phrase "adopted daughter" or "step-daughter" remove the prefix. And yes, it's a scary fairy tale.

Second of all, there should be a few pictures up on my homepage of the characters from this series, one of whom is the 19 year old Jonathan Gilld, just if you want an idea of what he looks like. Since fanfiction doesn't let me post urls, just go to my profile to get it. While you're there, you might want to check out some of my other stories. (winks)

Third of all, reviewers are wonderful people and I love them to bits. If you want to become one, the application process is a cinch. Just click on the little button at the bottom left of the page and leave me a message about this story. And, poof, you are now added to the wonderful reviewers list! Sounds almost too easy, and there's no catch! If you really want me to like you, I also accept check or money order…I'm kidding. But really, review! It makes my day and sometimes even my week!

Levana (Damian)